Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma

Sree Chithira Thirunal was the eldest son of Sethu Parvathi Bayi, popularly known as "Amma Maharani", the Queen Mother and Junior Maharani of Travancore, by her consort, Ravi Varma Kochu Koyi Thampuran of Royal House of Kilimanoor, a Sanskrit scholar and the great-nephew of the celebrated painter Raja Ravi Varma. He was born on Deepavali on his mother's sixteenth birthday, on 7 November 1912, as the Heir Apparent to the throne of Travancore. His siblings were Karthika Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi and Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma. Sree Chithira Thirunal's mother, Sethu Parvathi Bayi, was distantly related, by birth, to the royal house of Travancore in the direct female line. In 1900, following the absence of heirs in the Travancore royal family, she had been adopted by her maternal great-aunt. According to the matrilineal traditions of the Travancore royal family, Sree Chithira Thirunal, at the time of his birth, was proclaimed the Heir Apparent of Travancore with the title of: Sree Padmanabhadasa Maharajkumar Sree Balarama Varma II, Elaya Rajah (Crown Prince) of Travancore.

Education

At the age of 6, Sree Chithira Thirunal began his education under tutors specially chosen by his uncle, Maharajah Sree Moolam Thirunal, in subjects like Malayalam, Sanskrit, Tamil, English, Mathematics, History, Geography, General Literature, Art and Culture. His early education in Malayalam and Sanskrit was imparted by the eminent scholar of the time, Attoor Krishna Pisharody and in English by Mr. Dowel I.C.S (Indian Civil Service) and T. Raman Nambeeshan. Later he had his higher education under Captain G.T.B. Harvey, and Mr Dutt I.C.S (Indian Civil Service).

At the age of 16, he began his training in State Craft and Administration, for two years, in Bangalore. Sree Chithira Thirunal lived in Bangalore until 1 July 1931, and acquired knowledge in practical administration for 15 months, under the guidance of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, the Maharajah of Mysore. The head tutor of Sree Chithira Thirunal, Captain. Harvey, quoted in his report to the Travancore government that: His Highness is an intelligent and willing pupil and his educational progress has been quite satisfactory. His mental equipment and the present standard of his knowledge in English, Malayalam and other subjects like Mathematics, History and Geography are higher than those laid down by the Committee ruling 'Minor Ruler's Education and Training in Administration'. His Highness continued to make very satisfactory progress in his studies and that mental progress and expansion of personality have been marked and rapid. The establishment of a separate household, has resulted in much greater self-reliance, initiative and power of decision. Opportunities for studying the laws and institutions of a progressive State have greatly broadened His Highness' experience and enlarged His Highness' sympathies and interests. By the time he reached the majority age of eighteen, Sree Chithira Thirunal, had finished his administrative training in Mysore and returned to Travancore.

Sree Chithira Thirunal was famous for his devotion and piety towards his family deity Sree Padmanabha and many has often compared him to his ancestor Maharaja Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma in terms of devotion to the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. According to his niece, Pooyam Thirunal Gauri Parvathi Bayi, Sree Chithira Thirunal led a simple life as Padmanabhadasa and that he had a tremendous sense of humour, love for painting and drawing, fondness for knowledge about Puranas, religion, politics and history. Chithira Thirunal's devotion to Sree Padmanabha Swamy was very famous and had been referred to by many leaders including Sardar Patel, Indira Gandhi etc. He was called "Ponnammavan" by his family at Kowdiar.

Political unrest

Despite all the development and prosperity attained by his reign, Sree Chithira Thirunal's ruling period saw severe political unrest due to the then ongoing Indian freedom struggle. The Haripura Session of the Indian National Congress February 1938 resolved that in the Princely States by independent organisations may be encouraged to carry on internal struggles in these states. Gandhi's view was that the demand made by the people of princely states for responsible government was just and proper added fuel to their works. Thus, the Travancore State Congress with Pattom Thanu Pillai, a lawyer and public figure of Travancore as its first president. The Travancore State Congress started an active campaign for the creation of responsible government in Travancore. Sir C. P. tried every possible measure to curb the congress activities but the party had become one of the major critics of Prime Minister (Diwan), Sir C. P. Ramaswamy Aiyar. Meetings and demonstrations were banned and A. Narayana Pillai was arrested on a charge of sedition. According to Shodhganga website, "the Dewan soon started a reign of terror to suppress the State Congress." The State Congress presented a memorandum to Sree Chithira Thirunal making him aware of the immediate need for the grant of responsible government and also bringing to his notice the repressive policies of his Prime Minister's administration. Sir C. P. retaliated by declaring State Congress and its ally 'All Travancore Youth League' as disloyal and subversive bodies. The Diwan cancelled the licences of news papers, Malayala Manorama and Kerala Kaumudi which published news relating to the activities of the State Congress. On 26 August 1938, the State Congress started a widespread Civil Disobedience Movement but leaders like Pattom Thanu Pillai and T. M. Varghese were arrested in Trivandrum. Then the congress organized a massive rally under the leadership of Akkamma Cherian on the birthday of the Maharaja on 12 November 1938. After understanding the seriousness of the situation, Sree Chithira Thirunal announced the withdrawal of the ban on the State Congress and the unconditional release of its leaders. But Sir C. P. put forward the condition of withdrawing the earlier memorandum which contained personal allegations against him which the Youth League opposed and left the Congress and strengthened the ranks of the Youth League whereas some formed radical group with Communist leanings and K. Krishna Pillai as its leader. The radical wing of the Youth League, consisting of the Communists, had decided to cooperate with the government in its war efforts following the entry of the USSR in the Second World War. But after the war, the Communist staged a violent protest against Sir C. p. which came to known as the much disputed Punnapra-Vayalar uprising. What ever be the aim or motive of the Communists for conducting Punnapra-Vayalar uprising, the government action which led to the death of hundreds of Communist Party workers, marred the otherwise progressive reign of Sree Chithira Thirunal. The image of Sir C. P. was destroyed irreparably, and has been since cast into the light of a 'villain' by the entire political class in Kerala. The State Congress' long struggle for a responsible government finally became a reality in 1948 when Sree Chithira Thirunal announced the first public election in Travancore.

Industrial and infrastructure development

According to historian, A. Sreedhara Menon, Sree Chithira Thirunal also initiated industrialization and increased the role of the public sector in Travancore. He introduced heavy industry in the State and established giant public sector undertakings. As many as twenty industries were established, mostly for using the local raw materials such as rubber, ceramics and minerals. A majority of the premier industries running in Kerala even today were established by Sree Chithira Thirunal. Travancore Rubber Works, Kundara Ceramics, Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT), Travancore Titanium Products Ltd, Travancore-Cochin Chemicals, Punalur Paper Mills etc. are some of the industries started by him. Historian A. Sreedhara Menon referred to the administration of Sree Chithira Thirunal as 'enlightened' as his reign saw remarkable progress in the fields of education, economy, defence & society as a whole.

Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. The airport was established 1932 as part of the Royal Flying Club under the initiative of Lt. Col. Goda Varma Raja, husband of Karthika Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi, the Rani of Attingal and Travancore Kingdom. Goda Varma Raja, a trained pilot, felt the need for an airport to accommodate Travancore in the aviation map of India and requested the Travancore Durbar to initiate the process of establishing an aerodrome. A detailed report was made and presented to the King by Consort Prince in this regard. It may be mentioned that the King was the brother of Lt. Col. Raja's wife, and the colonel's children were the heirs to the throne.[citation needed]

In 1935, on the royal patronage of Maharaja Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, Tata Airlines made its maiden flight to the airport using an DH.83 Fox Moth aircraft under command of pilot Nevill Vintcent carrying Jamshed Navoroji, a Tata company official, and Kanchi Dwarakadas, commercial agent of Travancore in Karachi, with a special mail from the Viceroy of British India, Lord Willingdon, wishing birthday greetings to the Maharaja.[9]

The first flight took off on 1 November 1935, carrying mails of Royal Anchal (Travancore Post) to Bombay. In 1938, the Royal Government of Travancore acquired a Dakota as the Maharaja's private aircraft and placed the first squadron of the Royal Indian Air Force (Travancore) for protection of the state from aerial attacks. After Independence, the airstrip was used for domestic flights with the construction of a new domestic terminal, Terminal 1.[citation needed]

Public Transport Department (renamed Kerala State Road Transport Corporation)The Travancore government, headed by King Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, decided to establish the Travancore State Transport Department (TSTD) the predecessor of KSRTC, to improve the existing public-transport system.Initially, the department imported 60 Commer PNF3 chassis from England. Under the supervision of E.G Salter, the then Assistant Operating Superintendent of London Passenger Transport Board, the imported chassis were fitted with Perkins Lynx diesel engines. The bus bodies were built by department staff, and Travancore Dewan C. P. Ramaswami Iyerinsisted on using local wood. The body shop (supervised by Salter) was originally in Chakai, and was later moved to Pappanamcode. Salter's experimental body design became standard on the rest of the buses.

Most of the private operators on the Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari route had to close when the roads were nationalized, and many experienced drivers, conductors, and inspectors lost their jobs. TSTD recruited them, and Salter selected 60 people out of 81 applicants. Nearly one hundred applicants with bachelor's degrees were employed as inspectors and conductors.

The state road-transport service was inaugurated on 20 February 1938 by Maharaja Sree Chithira Thirunal, who (with his family, Col. Goda Varma Raja, and other dignitaries) rode the first bus on the Main Road to Kowdiar Square; Salter drove the bus. A fleet of 33 buses and a large crowd joined in the celebration. On 21 February 1938, the first bus operated from Thiruvananthapuram to Kanyakumari.

The early buses had 23 leather seats. Entry was through the rear, and the buses had a centre aisle. Ten first-class seats were in the front. Schedules, fares and stops were published, and a parcel service began in which goods could be delivered by designated agents. Conductors wore khaki with a white topi, and inspectors wore khaki. Conductors had machines to issue tickets. Later buses were manufactured by Dodge, Fargo, Bedford, and Chevrolet.

The TSTD operated on three routes: Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil, Nagercoil-Kanyakumari, and Nagercoil-Colachel. Regular service began on 21 February 1938 with 39 buses. The minimum fare for one mile was one-half chakram The next fare was one chakram, and first-class tickets were 50 percent more. Children under age three travelled free, and those between three and 14 paid half the fare. Luggage under 28 pounds (13 kg) was free; 28–56 pounds (13–25 kg) was four chakrams, and 56–112 pounds (25–51 kg) was six chakrams.The Motor Vehicle Act was passed in 1939. Bus service was extended to Kochi in 1949, and to the Malabar region in 1956.

Pallivasal Hydro-electric project Kundara had abundant reserves of China-clay the key raw material for Ceramic and Porcelain. In 1937 during reign of Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma the clay processing industry was started in Kundara. In the 1960s this developed into The Kerala Ceramics Limited.[11]

The backbone of modern industrialisation of Kundara was setting up of a 66kV Electrical substation at Kundara on 3 May 1940 which complemented the Pallivasal project, the first hydroelectric project in Kerala.[12] This was part of the network of first eight substations established in Travancorebetween Thrissur and Trivandrum to transmit hydroelectricity generated to households towns and industries. The Kundara substation was later upgraded to 220kV capacity and today it is vital in providing electricity to Kollam City and Kollam–Thiruvananthapuram trunk line of Southern Railways.

The power of availability of cheap hydroelectricity in Kundara then was such that, it prompted the famous Nobel Laureate, C. V. Raman and his close associate, P. Krishnamurti to set up the first ever unit of their newly formed company, Travancore Chemical & Manufacturing Company Ltd (TCM Ltd) at Kundara in 1943.[13] The unit produced Potassium chlorate an ingredient used in Safety match.[14] This unit once existed near Elampalloor Masjid on present day NH 183 and today it no longer exist

The setting up of substation also helped start Aluminium Industry in Kundara. On the invitation of C. P. Ramaswami Iyer the Diwan of travancore, on 2 January 1946, Seshasayee Brothers Group of Madras started the famous ALIND, Kundara.[15] The company was pioneers in aluminium electrical cable manufacturing in the region and has manufactured cables more than 10 million km in length. The company slipped into crisis in the late 1980s due to labour issues and poor management.was begun by him. 12 September

1945 as Travancore State Bank Ltd. later known as STATE BANK OF TRAVANCORE (SBT). SBT was established in 1945 as the Travancore Bank Ltd., at the initiative of Travancore Diwan C. P. Ramaswami Iyer under the guidance of Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma.

Instead, the bank considered the Maharaja of Travancore Sri Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma as the founder. Although the Travancore government put up only 25% of the capital, the bank undertook government treasury work and foreign exchange business, apart from its general banking business. Its head office was at Thiruvananthapuram.

In 1960, it became a subsidiary of State Bank of India under the SBI Subsidiary Banks Act, 1959, enacted by the Parliament of India, and thus achieved the name 'State Bank of Travancore'.